Inner Struggles
by WhisefoohL
Summary: Reid deals with his inner demons, and also an old enemy. R
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I don't own anything. Reviews are very much appreciated.

* * *

Reid Garwin sighed. Caleb was on his case again. This time it was exceedingly stupid, because he refused to share the answers to the history test, so Reid had to find another way to acquire the information. That other way happened to involve mind reading.

"If you keep using like that, you're not gonna make it past thirty! And it wont be my problem when you can't stop using, and you have to live the rest of your pitiful life addicted to the power," Caleb yelled. Reid rolled his eyes and tried to storm off. Caleb threw him back against the wall, and held him there firmly by the neck. "If I catch you doing something like that again, you're screwed." Reid pushed Caleb off him and stalked off, fuming.

Everyone knew that in the 'sons of Ipswich' that Caleb Danvers was the leader, Pogue Parry was the adrenaline junkie, Reid Garwin was the trouble maker, and Tyler Sims was the quiet one. It was really quite funny that Caleb tried to control everyone, even though it only made them angry.

Walking up the stairs to his room, he ran into Tyler, who was going down. "Hey Reid, are you coming to swim team practice?" he asked.

Reid rolled his eyes again. "No, I feel crappy. Tell Caleb that I'm sorry I couldn't make it." He stormed the rest of the way up the stairs. Tyler shook his head and continued the rest of the way down the stairs.

Once in the room, Reid walked over to the his laptop and opened it. As he was waiting for it to turn on, he leaned his head back on the chair. He was so tired. When the computer finally loaded, he opened up his e-mail. '9 unread mail'. One by one, he opened, read, and deleted the e-mails. Nothing worth keeping. Just advertisements, and forwards. He shook his head in frustration. He couldn't stop thinking about using. It sounded so good right now. His head was pounding in his skull, and his body ached. He hoped that this feeling would pass soon. He walked over to the mini fridge and grabbed a soda, hoping the caffeine would cure his aching head. Reid sat in silence for a while, thinking about nothing unparticular

Just then, the phone rang. "Yeah," he answered. It was Tyler.

"Caleb and Pogue and I are headed to Nicky's. You wanna come?" Tyler asked. "We're leaving right now, so if you want to come, you should get down here now."

"Okay, I'll be right down," he hung up the phone. Might as well shoot some pool to get his mind off things. He grabbed his black stocking cap and walked out the door, closing it behind him.

"Hey Reid. I'm glad you're feeling better," Tyler was waiting for him outside the dorm. "Caleb and Pogue already left. They said to meet them there." Reid and Tyler got into Tyler's truck and drove down the road.

Reid sat in silence, his head resting on his hand, staring out the window. When they arrived, he saw that Sarah and Kate were there too, along with a new girl he had never seen before.

"Hey Tyler, Reid," Caleb greeted. "This is Amanda Hodges. She's new," he introduced the girl standing to the left of him. She was pretty, and shy. Reid took the chance to introduce himself to her, in hopes that maybe he would get to her before Tyler, who was clearly eyeing her.

"Hi, I'm Reid Garwin. Where did you come from?" he asked flirtatiously.

"I transferred in. I'm actually from London," she said, her voice thick with the British accent. This made Reid grin.

"Wow, I love your accent. It's hot," he said, moving closer to her. She was wearing dark jeans, and a dark grey t-shirt over a long white tank. Caleb shook his head at the sheer obviousness of Reid's flirting.

"Let's go inside," Caleb said, walking in next to Sarah. Reid put his arm around Amanda and followed them. Amanda politely removed his arm. Reid pretended not to notice and sat down at a table. Pogue and Kate sat down with Caleb and Sarah next to him.

"Garwin, come here so I can kick your butt at pool!" Tyler called from where he was racking up the balls. Reid got up and grabbed a cue.

"What do you think of Amanda?" he asked. Tyler looked up from where he was aligning a shot.

"She's hot, and definitely not into you. Hate to break it to you," he answered honestly. Reid glared at him, waiting for him to take his shot. When he was finished, Reid lined up his shot carefully. His eyes went black, and he sunk the 6 ball in the corner pocket. Reid chalked up the cue, looking pleased with himself. In two seconds flat, Caleb was at his side, grabbing him by the upper arm and dragging him out side.

"What are you doing Garwin? You're such an idiot sometimes!" he yelled. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. Reid took this chance to do something he'd wanted to for quite some time. He decked Caleb across the face. When Caleb recovered, Reid took a step back, in defensive mode, his eyes black once again. Caleb ran at him and shoved him to the ground. Now, Caleb's eyes were also as black as night.

"You pushed it to far Garwin!" he force threw Reid back against a dumpster. This was the second time in a few weeks that they'd fought like this. Only last time, it was before both of them ascended.

Reid got up quickly and brushed him self off. He ran forward and knocked Caleb to the ground and began punching his face. Just as Caleb pushed him off of him, Pogue came running out to see what was happening. Caleb threw himself at Reid, and began punching his face again and again, until Reid managed to get him off of him. They both stood up and looked at each other. Reid wasn't done yet. He force threw Caleb against a wall. Caleb brought him along with him, and they both kind of just sat against the wall for a minute, eyes closed. When they opened them, they saw they had an small audience. Pogue and Kate were over by the door, with Sarah. Tyler was holding Amanda, who had no idea what was happening. She buried her face in his shoulder, obviously upset at the fact that two of her new friends had tried to kill each other, not to mention the creepy black eyes.

Caleb pushed himself up off the ground. He walked over to Pogue and Tyler. He was clearly going to have them explain every thing to Amanda, he had no choice. Reid just sat there, staring at Tyler, who had not let go of Amanda. He had absolutely no idea how to handle him right now. It was so clear that Reid liked Amanda, and with in 20 minutes of him telling him that, he was all over her.

Pogue and Tyler left with the three girls, and that left Caleb alone with Reid again. "Reid, get up. Let's get out of here," he said. Reid just looked at him, and shook his head.

"I'm gonna stay here for a while. I'll walk back. Just leave will you," he said calmly, with out emotion. Caleb nodded and hurried to catch up with Tyler and Pogue.

Reid got up, and went back inside. He headed for the bathroom so he could clean up a bit. His lip was bleeding, along with most of his face. He looked in the mirror, Caleb had done a nice job on him this time. A nice collection of bruises and cuts. Once he'd wiped all the blood off his face, he went up to the bar.

* * *

Three hours later, when Nicky's was closing up, Reid was still sitting at the bar, barely able to sit up straight. One of the waitresses walked up and sat in the bar stool next to his.

"Is there any one I can call for you?" she asked sweetly. 'I must look absolutely pitiful' he thought.

"No, I'm just gonna walk back to the school," he slurred the sentence together with as much sense as he could muster.

"I don't think you're even fit to do that. Why don't you call one of your friends you were here with earlier," she suggested. Reid laughed drunkenly. That would go over well! "I'll even call them for you."

"NO!" Reid was tired of this questioning. He stood up to quickly and fell down. At this point, Nicky, who was wiping down the bar, walked over.

"Hey, you," he said. "Either you call someone to pick you up here, or you call someone to pick up down at the station. Now, just tell me that guy's number you were here with." He said sternly, helping him up. Reid gave in and gave him Pogue's number. He was the only one who wasn't completely pissed at him at the moment.

* * *

Twenty minutes, Pogue was helping him out to his motorcycle. "I hear you're a lousy drunk," he said, trying to lighten up the mood that Reid was in. Reid laughed drunkenly again.

"Yeah. I guess." Pogue got onto the motorcycle and started it up.

Once they were back at the dorm, he helped his swaggering friend up the stairs and to his room. "Tyler, open the door," Pogue said through the door. Tyler opened the door, and stepped aside so he could get in.

"What are you doin' here?" Reid slurred.

"I live here smart one. I got it from here Pogue. Thanks." Tyler said, guiding his drunk friend to his bed. Once Reid was safely there, Tyler got up and grabbed some water. "Drink some of this," he threw the water bottle at Reid.

* * *

The next morning came too fast in Reid's mind. Before he even had a chance to adjust to having the sun leak through the blinds, Tyler yanked them open. Reid moaned and buried his head under his pillow.

"Reid, get up. We have to go to Lit. in 30 minutes. You may want to hit the showers. You reek," Tyler was already up and ready. Reid reluctantly and sluggishly pushed him self off the bed and out the door, grabbing a towel on his way out. 'This is going to be a long day' he thought.

When he got back, he realized that Tyler had already left. He hurried and finished getting ready, picked up his things, and left the room. It took him about 10 minutes to catch up with Tyler, Pogue, and unfortunately Caleb. They were all standing out side the class room talking.

"Hey Reid, how you feeling?" Pogue asked, walking over to him. Reid grunted in response. Caleb was looking at him, waiting for an explanation. When none came, he prompted him.

"So, what did you do after we all left last night?" he asked, with mock curiosity.

"Like you don't already know!" Reid said shortly. Reid was a little pleased to see that Caleb's face looked sore, and swollen. His eye was purple, and there was a shallow cut above his eye. At least he did some damage. "Nice face."  
"I was just about to say the same to you. Look, we shouldn't have handled it. I'm sorry. You just have to learn that you can't act like that anymore."

"How is it that you can still get a jab in, even when you're apologizing?" Reid asked, leaning against the wall. Just then, the door opened, and they went inside the class room.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: thanks to the three reviewers who reviewed this story. I love getting reviews, especially good ones. If you've got any suggestions, feel free to offer them to me!

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Inner Struggles

Chap. 2

They each took their seats, and waited for the Prof. to start the lesson. They had been studying John Steinbeck, and had finished, in theory, reading The Pearl on their own. Today, they were discussing it.

"Who here read the book?" the Prof. asked, looking for an honest answer, which Reid was not willing to give him. He raised his hand with the rest of the class, who were more than likely, also lying. "Wow, that's what I wanted to see. Now, who would like to comment on something they found interesting?"

Several of the ones who actually wanted to be in this class raised their hands. He pointed to a girl sitting next to Reid, Tory. She was actually not that ugly, but since she was such a know-it-all, no one liked her. "Just that fact that Kino's, of for those of you who haven't read it yet," she looked at Reid scornfully, "the main character, people were trapped by their lack of education. The Spaniards in the town had a lot of power over them because they couldn't fight back."

"Very good Tory," he complimented. He went around for about 5 minutes asking willing volunteers for their opinions, before moving to the ones who refused to raise their hands. "Garwin, what did you find interesting?" he asked with a knowing look, a look that knew that he hadn't read the book.

"Well," he began. He knew for a fact that Tyler had read the book, since he saw him reading it one time during lunch. He decided to probe his mind, to make sure Tyler was paying attention to the conversation. "I thought it was, intriguing, that in the end, everything Kino had hoped for was lost, with the death of the baby," he answered with mock confidence. Instantly, he was bombarded with warnings, and scoldings, in his head.

"Wow, Mr. Garwin, that's a very good point," the Prof. said, surprised. Reid smirked over at Tyler. He mouthed the word, 'thanks'.

Once class was over, Reid made record time getting out of the room. He knew he was in for another lecture. Part of him knew he shouldn't have done it, but the other part was incredibly pleased with himself.

"Garwin, where the heck do you think you're going so quickly?" Pogue yelled. Caleb was walking next to him. "I've never seen you so eager to get to Algebra 2!" he said sarcastically. Reid hurried his pace, but was quickly shoved into an empty classroom.

"Oh sorry, I didn't hear you. Were you saying something?" he asked innocently, feigning curiosity as to what this was all about.

"Shut up. You know we all know what you did in there. Pretty soon, you're gonna get caught, and then, you'll be in huge trouble," Caleb said.

"Seriously, Reid. This isn't how it works You can't just use when ever it's convenient," Pogue agreed. Reid wasn't gonna take this. How dare they gang up on him like this! He shoved his way past them, and stormed out the door, with out a word. There was no point in going to Algebra 2. He was just gonna go back to the dorm and rest.

This wasn't getting any easier. Every time he tried not to use, his body completely disagreed, but when he did use, his friends completely disagreed. It was a never ending cycle. With every time he used, it was harder to reach that 'high' the next time. It was like a freakin' drug! He might as well be addicted to cocaine or something.

As he was walking back to the dorms, he was distracted from his thoughts when he saw a girl casually strolling around the center courtyard. He'd seen her around, but he'd never seen her alone before. This was his chance. No one could steal this girl away from him, because they all sorta had someone else.

"Hey," he strolled toward her. "I do believe you should be in class right now, miss." He put on his best charming act.

"I do believe you should too," she said, turning around, curious as to who said that. "Hey, you're Reid right? I've seen you and your friends around. Incase you don't know, I'm Emma," she said.

"I knew your name!" he lied. "I think your in my US History class."

"Yeah, I am. I sit next to your friend Pogue. What class are you skipping?" she asked, sitting down on a bench.

Reid went to sit down next to her. "Algebra 2, you?"

"German. I hate that class. It goes way too slow," she said. "Algebra 2, huh. Wow, I can't believe you can get away with skipping that one. It moves so fast!" she said.

"I have my ways. So, German goes to slow? I'm practically drowning in first year Spanish!" he said. "What year of German are you in?"

"Third. I love the language, I just don't like having to wait for my class to comprehend simple things. I tried Spanish for a while. German is way easier." She said, not wanting to sound like a know-it-all, bragging about how easy things were for her.

"Sure, you wanna go do something, we could go down to Nicky's. It's the last class of the day and all, we could take our time there.

"Yeah. Let me go change. I'll meet you back here in 10 minutes." She got up and walked away, looking over her shoulder with a smile. Reid hurried to his dorm so he could change of the stuffy uniforms. He really hated the dress code. It prohibited fingerless gloves, which were his trademark.

* * *

Precisely 10 minutes later, Reid was sitting on the bench, and Emma came walking up. She had changed into a casual, yet really cute, pair of jeans, and a simple black T-shirt, and black converse. What surprised Reid the most was on her hands, she had black fingerless gloves, which made him like her even more.

"Ready?" she asked, pulling on a jacket and a scarf.

"Yeah, we'll take my car," he said, standing up and walking out the parking lot next to Emma. They approached a black mustang convertible and got in.

"Nice car," she said. That's what she liked about this school. Everyone had money, and therefore, had nice things. "It's like mine, but mine's silver. So, tell me something about yourself."

"Well, I grew up here. My ancestors, along with the ancestors of my friends, founded Ipswich. Our families have been close for ever," he explained. "What about you?"

"Hmm, my parents moved here when I was born. We're originally from New York City, but came here to get away from the city life. Which is funny, because the city life sounds very nice after growing up here. A year after we moved here, my mom was diagnosed with cancer, and when I was eight, she died. She was a really strong woman. She put up the fight for seven years." She paused. "My dad did a pretty good job raising me, but I still turned out tom-boyish." She laughed.

"Wow. That must have been hard. Yeah, my dad has been fighting a chronic illness for a while too. He contracted it when he was eighteen. It's not nearly as serious as cancer, but I know how hard it is to see someone you love suffer. What are your hobbies?" he asked, doing them both a favor and changing the subject.

"I like to write, and listen to music. I also enjoy playing foosball when I'm at Nicky's," she said, which Reid interpreted as a challenge.

"What a coincidence. I like foosball too. We should play. I'll go easy on you, seeing as I rock at that game." They got out of the car and walked up to the door. "Do you want some food?" Reid asked once they were inside.

"Yeah, I'll have fries and a Mountain Dew, thanks," she said, walking over to the foosball table. Reid went up and put in his order and walked back to where Emma was putting on her game face, pumped for the game.

"Aw, how cute. You think you're gonna win," he said sarcastically.

"You're funny! Let's not get ahead of ourselves. You can be cute once you win, if you can manage that," she said, surprisingly not kidding. She was serious about this, which made Reid grin.

"Ok, let's get on with it!" He took his place on the other side of the table, and launched the ball.

The game went on for ten whole minutes, in silence. They were both concentrating too hard to carry on a conversation. In the end, Reid lost by one point, which really bothered him.

"Our food's been waiting up there for like five minutes. We should probably eat it before it gets too cold," he said, attempting to distract the sore winner with food. He couldn't believe she'd beat him. Now, he had to play her at pool, his specialty.

"You're not getting off that easy Garwin, I haven't had a chance to rub it in yet," she laughed. She paused for a moment before, oh so immaturely, saying, "You got beat by a girl, HA HA HA!" she skipped up to the counter and grabbed the food.

She walked calmly over to the table, all her excitement over winning out of her system. Reid sat down bitterly, and starting eating the fries he'd ordered. "So, what are your plans for the weekend?" he asked. It was Friday, and he now had something to look forward to besides sleeping in.

"I was planning on just hanging around campus, enjoying the peace and quiet of a roommate that's always out of town. Unless you can come up with some things for us to do," she said, taking a sip of her Mountain Dew.

"Well, we could come hang out here, and, that's basically it," he suggested. He wished he could come up with something better, but he was drawing a blank on all forms of entertainment.

"I've had a great time today, so, sure, sounds like a plan," she said. "Lets go play pool." She got up and grabbed a cue. Reid followed her, ready to beat her so bad that it would make up for the fact that she beat him at foosball.

"This should even up the score of the night," he said, lining up his first shot.

They played for a while, until at last, Reid won. He smirked and went to grab his coat. Emma followed him. They left Nicky's, and went out to Reid's car.

"Congratulations on winning," she said. "See, even though I'm a sore winner, I'm a gracious loser." Reid laughed. They got into the car and laughed and talked the rest of the way back to the campus.

* * *

When Reid arrived at his dorm, he reflected on the night. First of all, he'd met a girl that he really liked, and secondly, he had had a great time, and until now, didn't even think about using, which made it harder to resist. 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: hey, i made a little mistake when i repliedt to Draco's Secret Lover's review. I got Tory confused with Amanda! Can you believe it? I feel a little stupid, sorry! But next chappy, i'll try to get 'TORY' into the story again. LOL. anyways, this is a short chappy, but there's another one coming soon.

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Inner Struggles

Chap. 3

Reid woke in a sweat. He'd had a very restless few hours of sleep, if you could even call it that. He slowly realized his cell was going off. Tyler moaned for him to turn it off, and Reid ignored him, and looked to see who was calling him. It was Caleb.

"What?" he asked angrily. "It's like three in the morning!"

"Are you using?" Caleb got right to the point. Reid was sick of this. He sighed. "Tell me the truth!" Caleb said.

"Why am I the first person you call when you feel someone using?" he asked. "And, no, I'm not using. You freakin' woke me up!" he answered bitterly, having to force himself not to slam his phone shut.

"Past expierences," Caleb said, backing off a little. Reid got up to get a drink of water, still holding his phone. He was horrer-stricken when he looked in the mirror. His eyes were as black as night, but he didn't even feel like he was using.

"Caleb, I'm gonna go," he hung up the phone and rubbed his eyes. The black was beginning to fade, but that didn't make him feel any better. He went back to his bed, to try to get some restful sleep.

Four hours later, Reid finally had to get up, all the way. He got ready in silence, and Tyler woke up slowly.

"You're up earlier than usual," he said, yawning.

"But you're up late," Reid answered, running a hand through his hair. That was the extent of the preparation his hair required.

"I'm aware of that. And are you aware that it's Saturday? You usually aren't up for another hour or so on Saturdays." He got up, and began his morning routine. Reid looked at his watch and sighed. It wasn't even funny how much he wished he'd been able to sleep in for another hour.

"I couldn't sleep last night. The only thing for me to do now is to go get myself an Bookoo, and start the day," he answered, grabbing his fingerless gloves, black hat, and keys. "I'm running to the store, you wanna come?" he asked, opening the door. Tyler agreed, and followed him out the door.

Reid drove them down the road to town in silence. He parked, rather crookedly, at the back of the parking lot and got out. "Nice parking job," Tyler pointed out. Reid rolled his eyes and started walking towards the doors. 'note to self: don't mess with Reid today.' Tyler thought, catching up with Reid.

Reid made a bee-line for the energy drinks, grabbed a suitable one, and walked towards the check out line. "Hold on a sec, I'm gonna go get something," Tyler said, walking towards the back of the store. Reid sighed and followed him, curious as to what he needed to buy.

"What are you getting?" he asked.

"Some chips, to stash in the dorm. And some soda. We're out," Tyler answered, picking up a bag of sour cream and onion chips. Reid nodded and went back to the checkout stand.

Once they paid, they went out side. It was a chilly October morning, and the sun was just beginning to become visible, proving just how early they were up.

"Hey Reid, what were you doing when you skipped out on Algebra 2?" Tyler asked. Reid grinned inwardly, remembering his little date with Emma last night.

"I went down to Nicky's with a friend," he answered, hoping that answer would suffice, he didn't want the guys finding out about Emma yet.

"You have friends besides us?" Tyler asked, in mock surprise. Reid shoved him, only this time, it was friendly, not serious. "Was it a girl?" he asked.

"As a matter of fact, it was. Don't tell anyone else though, I'm not ready to subject her and me to Caleb and Pogue, who would absolutely have a ball with it. Her name is Emma, I think you might know her," Reid answered. Just thinking about her took his mind off the events of earlier that morning.

"Yeah. She's in one of our classes, right?" Tyler asked. Reid nodded and got into the car, and started it. They drove back to campus. Reid didn't stop yapping about how great Emma was. 'Wow Reid's confusing. He was so pissed this morning, and now I can't get him to shut up. It must be the Bookoo." Tyler thought.

Once they were back at the school, Reid and Tyler went back to the dorms, to put the food away. Caleb and Pogue were on their way up the stairs when they were coming back down. "Hey guys," Caleb said. "Reid, where were you yesterday? You missed an amazingly wonderful day of Algebra 2."

They laughed and went out to the center court yard. "Lets see if the girls want to go somewhere today. It looks like it's gonna be a nice day. We should do something outside," Caleb suggested, slowing down and waiting for a response.

The guys all agreed, and Caleb took his cell out to call Sarah. Reid was surprised that Caleb hadn't said anything, or even seemed to recall the phone call last night. "I'm gonna go call someone, to see if they want to tag along. Is that okay with you guys?" he asked, not caring if they said yes or no. He really wanted to spend time with Emma.

"Sure," Tyler said, with a knowing smile. Reid grabbed his cell, and went a ways from the group to call her.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, it's Reid. We're all heading out somewhere, do you want to tag along?" he asked, crossing his fingers for a yes.

"Okay. I'll be right down. Center courtyard?" she inquired.

"Yeah. Bye," Reid hung up the phone and walked back to the group. Pretty soon, Emma came walking out from the girls dorms.

Yesterday, she had had her hair straight, but today, her dark brown hair was in curls. He hadn't even noticed how green her eyes were yesterday. "Hey Reid," she said. She ran up to him and hugged him. Caleb and Pogue were staring at this display, confused.

"Hey guys, this is Emma. We skipped class and hung out at Nicky's yesterday," he explained. "I think she likes me," he whispered just loud enough for her to hear him. She laughed and slapped his arm. She was wearing dark wash jeans, and a deep red sweater. She also had on converse, and those fingerless gloves from yesterday.

"Nice to meet you Emma. I think you're in one of my classes," Pogue was the first to reply.

"I think so. You're Pogue right," she asked, shaking his hand. He nodded, and Caleb took his turn to greet this new comer.

"I'm Caleb," he reached out his hand and shook her still outstretched hand. Just then, Sarah, Kate, and also Amanda came out of the girls dorm.

"Hey guys," Sarah said, approaching where they were standing. "Who's this?" she asked, referring to Emma. "Wait, you're Emma right? I think you're in my Biology class.

"Yeah. I think so," she answered, smiling.

"What are we going to do today?" Amanda asked, moving to stand next to Tyler, who took her hand. Reid watched this, surprised that it sparked no anger.

"I don't know. What do you girls want to do?" Caleb asked.

"We should go on a drive in the country," Emma suggested. "It's such a beautiful day, we might as well spend it outside." Reid nodded, and so did everyone else. They walked out towards the parking lot, where all their cars were parked.

Pogue and Kate got onto Pogue's motorcycle. "How bout we meet at the end of the school road," he said. "Then we can decide where to go."

They all agreed. Caleb and Sarah walked over to his car, which was convertible. Tyler and Amanda followed them. Reid led Emma to his car, and they got in.

Once they were at the end of the road, they decided to go out to a meadow Sarah and Kate had discovered once. "It's really pretty," Kate said, before putting her helmet back on. They all sped down the road one by one.

"So, how was your night?" Reid asked Emma who was sitting staring out the window.

"Pretty good. You know what I've always wanted to do?" she asked. Not waiting for a response, she demonstrated. She unbuckled her seat belt, and stood up, holding the windshield for support. Reid laughed at how much Emma was enjoying herself. She stood there for several minutes, before rushing to sit down when she saw a corner in the road coming. She sat there laughing for a while.

Reid saw that everyone was pulling off the road ahead of him, and he did the same. He assumed they were there, because everyone was getting out of their vehicles. He and Emma walked over to where everyone else was waiting for them.

"It's right down here," Sarah said, leading the way down an embankment. They all followed her for about 5 minutes until they reached their destination.

"It's so pretty here!" Amanda exclaimed, not having strayed too far off campus since her arrival. Caleb had thought ahead and had three blankets in his arm, and Sarah had one wrapped around her protecting her from the still crisp October air.

He threw a blanket at Tyler, Pogue, and Reid. They all spread them out, and sat down comfortably. "So, we should get to know each other a little better," Emma suggested.

"Ok, but you suggested the idea, so you can go first," Kate said, smiling.

"Well, I'm Emma, and my parents moved here from New York when I was born. My mom died when I was 8, and, that's about it.

"I'll go next," Amanda said. "I was born and raised in England, till last month, when my dad got transferred here for a job." She said. One by one, they all said a little about themselves, until they had all spoken.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: See, i told you that the next chapter would be soon! Thanks to everyone who reviewed this story! Reviews make my day! Enjoy...

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Inner Struggles

Chapter 4

"Hey, we should go to Nicky's later," Tyler suggested, clearly bored with what they were doing now, which was absolutely nothing. They'd been sitting in silence for about five minutes.

"Okay. Want to head over there now?" Caleb asked, standing up. Everyone else nodded and pushed themselves off the ground.

"Meet you there in twenty," Reid said, gathering up the blanket and handing it to Caleb. He and Emma started walking back up the embankment to the cars.

In twenty minutes, Reid and Emma walked into Nicky's. "Fries and a Mountain Dew?" he asked, recalling what she had ordered last time they were here. She nodded and went to get a table. 

"Shortly after they arrived, Caleb and Sarah arrived. "Hey guys," he called, walking to where Reid was ordering. Sarah went to sit down with Emma. "Reid, once you order, I need to talk to you," he said.

"What can I get you?" the waitress asked Caleb.

"Fries and a coke, and a burger with a coke," he said. The waitress smiled and handed the order to the cook in the back.

"That'll be right up." Caleb motioned for Reid to follow him out the back door. Reid followed reluctantly.

"What do you want to ask me about?" he asked, not sure if he was in trouble or not. "Because I haven't been using lately."

"About last night, you sounded really jumpy. Is everything alright?" he asked. Reid flashed back to the time he was talking about.

"Everything's okay. It's just that you woke me up in the middle of the night that surprised me," he lied. He might as well have just told the truth, because he knew that he couldn't get this one past Caleb.

"Reid don't lie to me. If somethings not right, you need to tell me about it." Reid laughed at the predictability of his friends actions. "I know that you were using, tell me why."

"Whatever," Reid gave in. He didn't feel like arguing or making a scene, which was really wierd for him. Usually he would have taken any chance to argue with Caleb. "When you woke my up, I didn't realize I was using till I looked in the mirror, and my eyes were black. I wasn't trying to use or anything."

"You're sure?" Caleb asked worriedly. If Reid couldn't even sleep with out using, he was screwed.

"Yes I'm sure, why the heck wouldn't I be?" Reid asked, not liking the worry in his friends voice. Caleb gave on last look of concern, and went back inside.

By the time they got inside, Pogue, Kate, Tyler, and Amanda were already there. Pogue was playing Emma at foosball, and everyone else was playing pool. "I'd watch out Pogue, she's not bad at that game. She beat me yesterday, but of course, I beat her at pool!" Reid called, picking up the food as he walked towards the table. Caleb sighed. He was never going to get Reid to take anything seriously.

"Yeah, she's beating me, which is really weird for me," Pogue explained, motioning for Reid to come help. Instead of taking Pogue's side of the table, he stood next to Emma and took over the goalie position. "Nice, Reid, choose your girlfriend over your best friend. Caleb! Come help!"

Caleb rushed over and took the goalie position on Pogue's side. "Wow, she's beating you good!" Caleb pointed out.

"It's only because I'm going easy on her," Pogue said, putting the ball into play again, after Emma scored again.

"Is that what you were doing?" she asked. "You're doing a great job of it then. I'm hardly having to break a sweat!" They all laughed, except Pogue, who was concentrating too hard to laugh. Reid blocked another one of Pogue's attempt at a goal, and finally, Emma hit the ball straight past Caleb and scored the winning goal.

"Good job," Pogue reached a hand across the table to shake hands. They all went to see how the pool game was going. It seemed Tyler was winning, but then again, he was playing against three girls, which Pogue clearly pointed out.

"So? These girls can play pool hard core," he defended himself.

"We're not that good," Kate said, laughing. "Hmm, looks like the solids are catching up. In fact, I think we're tied!" Amanda had just sunk 3 balls in a row. "We each have to get one more."

Tyler was in utter concentration as he lined up his next shot. Reid moved around the table, accidentally, bumping Tyler as he drew back. The cue ball went straight to the corner pocket, balancing on the edge. Reid, accidentally, bumped the table again, and it fell in.

Kate, Amanda, and Sarah celebrated the victory, and Tyler walked up to Reid, who instinctively put some distance between them. The girls walked over to the food, and Caleb and Pogue went to go see how this was going to unfold. Reid was backed into a corner by the darts.

"You're going to pay for that, Garwin. I'm going to make a point to think all the wrong answers in class. You'll have to come up with your own," he said quietly. 'Here we go,' Caleb though. 'Reid was going to get pissed and storm off, as usual.'

Caleb was surprised when Reid just laughed it off. He and Tyler walked back to the food. "That was weird," Pogue had obviously noticed Reid's lack of short temper. Caleb nodded and they followed him to the table.

"Hey girls, it's okay, I beat him up for messing up our game," Tyler said, cracking his knuckles. Reid pretended to massage an aching head, and groaned in mock pain. Every one laughed. Reid went to sit next to Emma, who smiled up at him.

"Reid, I'm tired. Do you think you could drive me back to the campus?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, standing up from the table. "I'll meet you guys back at the dorms." Everyone said bye, and Reid and Emma walked toward the door. Reid put his arm around her as they stepped out into the cold. "Do you want my jacket?" he asked.

"No, thank you," she said. Reid started to put up the top on his convertible. "I like your friends. They seem fun," she said, getting into the car.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure they like you too. You should see them when I bring a girl they don't like," he said. "Nice job on beating Pogue. He's pretty good at that game." Emma laughed triumphantly. "You wanna listen to the radio?" he asked.

She turned on the dial and station surfed till she found something that pleased her ear. It was something punk-rock.

"Nice choice in music," Reid said. They drove back to the school in silence, except for the radio blaring.

Reid pulled into the parking lot, and then walked Emma up to her dorm room. Her roommate was still out of town, so she was gonna have the room to herself. Emma opened the door, but turned around in the door way. "Tomorrow, you should come by here at 8. then we can go to coffee," she said. "Does that sound okay to you?"

"Yeah. Sounds great. See you then," Reid leaned forward for a goodbye kiss. She leaned forward and kissed him. A couple seconds later, Reid said good bye and walked down the hall.

Reid walked slowly back to the guys dorms. Now that he was alone, with out Emma, his mind drifted back to using, and what had happened last night. He really hoped that tonight would be different, and he wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night only to find that he was using.

He began to reflect on the day. He'd gone the entire day with out using, or even thinking about it. That was a record! Emma seemed to take the place of using, so when he was around her, all he could think about was her. He was happy that his friends couldn't find anything bad to say about her. When Reid got to the center of the courtyard, he went to a bench and sat down. He was just gonna think for a while.

Before he had a chance to think about anything, Tyler ran up. "It's freakin' cold out here Reid, why don't you go inside?" he asked, stopping by where Reid was sitting.

"I was just thinking. Why does it matter where I decide to do my thinking?" Reid asked shortly. "Caleb and Pogue went home?" he asked. Tyler nodded, and then walked toward the boys' dorms. Reid got up and followed him.

Once they were up in the room, Reid flopped down on his bed, rubbing his eyes. "So, what do you think about Emma?" he asked Tyler, who was gathering up some papers from where he was doing homework earlier.

"I think she's great. She's cute," he said. "I think she really likes you," Tyler stated. Reid smiled, and got up.

"I thought so too," Reid said. He got into bed, remembering that he had to get up early the next morning. "I'm gonna go to sleep, see you tomorrow."

While Reid slept, Tyler remembered that Caleb told him to watch and see if anything happens while he slept. He'd said something like Reid using while he slept. And sure enough, barely 10 minutes after Reid had fallen asleep, he noticed something. His friends peaceful sleep had turned fitfull, and, slowly, things began to levitate a few inches off the ground. The fell to the ground again, but then things started falling off shelves. He rushed to wake him up.

"Reid, wake up!" he shook him. Reid snapped out of his sleep, and opened his eyes. His eyes were black too. "You're using!" Tyler said.

"Crap," Reid sat up and looked around. There were several books, and some other things laying on the ground under their usual place on the shelf. He buried his face in his hands, not sure what to do. Then, he reluctantly realized that the only thing to do would be to call Caleb.

He took his cell off the bed-side table and dialed Caleb's number.

"Reid?" he asked. "Did it happen again?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah, only this time, things fell off the shelf. Tyler woke me up," Reid said. "What do I do?" he asked, kicking himself for needing someone's help.

"I'll come over there. We'll try to figure this out. For now, just don't sleep," Caleb hung up the phone. Reid got out of bed, and walked over to the sink. He splashed his face with the cold water. He pulled on some jeans, and went to sit down on the window sill. This was going to be a long night if he couldn't sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry about another short chapter, but i just wanted to get this part out there. Thanks again to everyone who chose to review this fic. Enjoy!...

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Inner Struggles

Chapter 5

Ten minutes later, Caleb knocked on the door to Reid and Tyler's dorm room. Tyler opened it for him, and he and Pogue stepped in. "Hey Reid, how are you doing?" he asked.

"Are you stupid? I can't sleep because if I do, I could bring down the entire school," he said, not in a good mood, which was to be expected. "Are you really asking me how I'm doing?"

"Sorry I asked," Caleb said. "So, the plan is basically to keep you awake till we can figure this out. The first 48 hours shouldn't be too bad. Most people can handle that," Caleb said, sitting down in a chair. Reid laughed harshly. Caleb was trying to be funny, and he wasn't doing a very good job of it.

They sat in silence for a while. When Reid started to feel tired, he went to the fridge and grabbed the Bookoo he'd never finished. "What time is it?" he asked.

Caleb looked at his watch. "Two in the morning," he answered. 'this is gonna be a long night if Reid asks what time it is every 5 minutes,' he thought.

Pogue decided to bring up something to talk about. "So, Emma seems really nice," he said. "Almost too nice for you." Everyone smiled, except Reid, who wasn't listening.

"I think she really likes him," Tyler said, not wanting Reid to get pissed. This Reid heard. He looked back at them, from where he'd been staring out the window.

"We should go somewhere," Reid suggested, getting bored with just sitting there. "Let's go to Caleb's house." Caleb thought about it.

"Okay, we can call the girls, and see if they want to meet us there," he said, standing up and taking out his cell phone. Reid, Tyler, and Pogue all got up and headed for the door. Caleb followed them out, closing the door. They all snuck down the stairs, and out across the lawn.

While they were walking towards the parking lot, they heard footsteps behind them. They all turned around quickly, to see Kate and Sarah running across the grass, in their pajamas.

At the parking lot, the all loaded into Tyler's hummer, since it had the most capacity. Tyler sped down the road towards Caleb's home. Once there, Caleb went in ahead of them, to warn his mom of the guests.

He signaled for everyone to come in, and saw that Mrs. Danvers was busy starting a batch of coffee. "What brings you all here so late? Isn't it past curfew?" she walked over to the group of people gathering in the foyer.

"We've got a problem," Caleb said. "Whenever Reid sleeps, he unconsciously uses, and causes things to levitate off the ground, and fall off shelves," he said. "We can't let him go to sleep." Mrs. Danvers got a worried look on her face.

"Well, then I guess I'd better see how this coffee is coming along." She turned and went back down the hallway to the kitchen. Ever since Caleb's father died, she'd become more and more motherly, and stopped the drinking for the most part. They all followed her and sat down in the breakfast nook.

"It's very nice of you to open your home for us, Mrs. Danvers," Sarah said. Caleb smiled. She was always so polite to his mother, even when she was a drunk. Everyone muttered their agreement.

"So, how do you take your coffee, Reid?" she asked, getting out six mugs.

"Black," he said without hesitation. He wouldn't have had as much trouble staying awake if he'd been able to get any good sleep the night before. She smiled and handed him the first cup. Reid took it gratefully, muttering thanks. He was not fond of this attention, or being pitied.

"So, is Reid going to have to stay awake for the rest of his life, or are you guys gonna try to figure this out?" Kate asked.

"After coffee, we'll go try to figure it out. But for now, he's going to have to stay awake," Caleb answered. Reid sighed inwardly, thinking about how long it could take them to figure it out.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: another short chapter, sorry. I'm trying to figure out where to go with Reid's whole problem, and i'm hitting a wall. So, be patient. Enjoy...

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Inner Struggles

Chapter 6

They were all sitting around the book, looking to any answer to Reid's problems. "Do you remember any dreams on the nights that this happened?" Caleb asked, hoping he'd found something. Reid shook his head.

"Not that I remember," he added. "But when I woke up, I felt like you feel when you wake up after a nightmare. You know, the feeling that something is about to happen." Reid rubbed his eyes. The coffee wasn't working very well.

"Okay," Caleb said, looking for something else. They named every thing in the book that might have anything to do with subconscious using. They kept going back to the first idea. It was the only thing that had any plausibility.

Reid started to fall asleep, so he stood up and started pacing, trying to get the blood pumping. It was hard, because he had this feeling that using was the only way to get over this. "Reid, I have an idea. You're going to go to sleep, and concentrate really hard on remembering what you're dreaming about," Caleb said. They all headed up the stairs.

"Let's go into the guest room," Reid said, really looking forward to some approved sleep. It was a little creepy that his friends were all going to be watching him sleep. He went and hopped on the bed, slowly letting sleep take him, which didn't take long.

Barely ten minutes later, Reid found himself being shaken awake. "What was the dream about?" Caleb asked.

"I don't know," Reid answered, disappointed that this wasn't going to be as easy as he'd hoped. "I'll try again." He drifted into sleep again. This time, he got more minutes of sleep till the last time, but that just made the affects of using more powerful.

Caleb shook him awake again. Reid just shook his head, and tried again. This went on for about ten times. Caleb, Pogue, and Tyler had taken turns waking him up. The twelfth time he tried, Tyler woke him up. Caleb and Pogue were in the other room. "Do you remember the dream?" he asked. This time felt different. He had this overpowering haunting feeling that something was wrong. He thought for a couple of seconds, but then he lost the connection with the dream.

"I'll try again," Reid said, closing his eyes once again. Tyler waited several minutes, till things started to move again. He barely had to touch Reid before he jerked awake. "Emma!" he shouted. "She's in danger. Someone's going to hurt her." Caleb and Pogue heard the shouts, and came running back in, followed by Kate and Sarah, who'd been chatting with Mrs. Danvers.

"Reid, tell us more. What kind of danger?" Pogue asked. Reid sat there, eyes closed trying to relive the dream before he lost it.

"I don't know. It's bad though. She's yelling for help, but no one is coming. She can't get away from the danger, and tries to fight it off. It doesn't work, and eventually she gives in," Reid started to slow down. "She's gone," he said, in barely more than a whisper. "We have to do something," he pleaded.

"It's just a dream, nothing's going to happen to Emma," Caleb tried to reassure his defeated friend.

"Don't lie to me!" Reid snarled. "You know that something could very well be wrong, and that this isn't just a random dream." He stood up and walked out the door. Every one else sat in silence, knowing that Reid just had to burn off his anger.

"What do we do?" Tyler asked the question everyone was thinking. Caleb shook his head. He got up and walked out to where the girls were all talking.

"Did you figure something out?" Sarah asked, standing up when he saw the look on Caleb's face.

"We know what's wrong, I just don't know how to fix it. And if Reid keeps storming off, we won't get anywhere. Pogue went to find where Reid had gone too. This wasn't a good state for Reid to be alone in. He wasn't the most stable person right now.

The first place he checked was out the front door. Reid was standing out in the middle of the yard. He was focusing really hard on something. Just then, the lights in the house flickered, and then went off. "Reid!" Pogue ran up to his friend. With out thinking, Reid shoved his friend away with all the strength he could muster. Pogue got up quickly, and threw his body weight into Reid's figure, which was just a shadow in the dark light.

Reid snapped out of it, and the lights turned back on. "Crap," he said. Pogue helped his friend up, and they walked back into the house. "What now?" Reid asked, pretending that what just happened didn't .

"I don't know. I'm still trying to figure it out," Caleb answered. "We have all of today until classes start tomorrow. Don't give up, we'll figure this out." He tried to reassure Reid, who was completely out of it.

"Well, Sarah and I are going to go, since you don't really need us here," she leaned over to Pogue. "And so we can get some sleep," she whispered so Reid couldn't hear. Pogue nodded and kissed her good bye. By this time, it was like five in the morning. After they left, Mrs. Danvers retired to bed.

Caleb, Pogue, Reid and Tyler went back into the kitchen. Reid sat down at the table, and Tyler made another pot of coffee. "You really care about Emma, don't you," Pogue broke the silence. "That's why you're so worried about her."

"I guess," Reid said, rubbing his eyes. "You don't use while you're sleeping, and you care about Kate, right?"

"Yeah," Pogue said. There was something more to this than just caring about someone.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Here's the next chapter. And i've been forgetting to say that i don't own anything, so, i don't own anything. Enjoy.

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Inner Struggles

Chapter 7

Caleb, Pogue, and Tyler had been sleeping in shift. They were coming up on ten A.M., with nothing that could help Reid. Someone had to be with Reid at all times, or he would drift off to sleep, and cause problems. Caleb had forbade him from calling Emma, and had taken his cell away from him.

Emma kept trying to call, but Caleb would ignore it, which drove Reid mad. "Answer it! Something might be wrong! She could be in danger you idiot," he yelled. The next time the phone rang, Reid glared at Caleb until he answered it.

"Hello?" he asked. "Reid's not able to come to the phone right now."

"Is there something wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"He's not feeling very well. I'll have him call you when he's better." Caleb hung up the phone. Not five minutes, she called back. This time, Reid made lunge for the phone. He managed to grab it out of Caleb's hands before he answered it.

"Hey," he said, answering the phone and walking away with it. "Yeah. We're all just at Caleb's house. I'm really sorry I couldn't come to coffee with you this morning, the guys wont really let me leave," Reid explained. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Yeah. Everything's fine," she answered, wondering where that question came from. "At least let me come over there with you," she pleaded. Reid looked at Caleb.

"Hold on. I'll ask boss man," he said, lowering the phone. "Hey, Caleb. Emma wants to come over here, so I'm gonna tell her how to get here." Just as he was about to start talking with Emma again, Caleb shook his head.

"You know you can't do that Reid. She can't find out about us," he said sternly.

"Kate and Sarah know! Why can't my girlfriend know?" he asked, angrily. "Besides, if Emma is in danger, wouldn't you rather her be in danger here than at school?" Reid knew he had a good point when Caleb sighed.

"Okay, but we have to be careful how we explain it to her." Reid brought the cell phone up to his face.

"Yeah." He gave the directions to Caleb's house. "Bye." He hung up the phone. Caleb stood up, and left the room. They'd been sitting for hours in the guest room. Reid got up and went out to the foyer, sitting down in a chair and resting his head against the wall it was against.

"Reid, you better not be sleeping," Tyler walked over and shook his friend, who stood up, knowing that if he sat there for much longer, he would be asleep.

"I'm going to go make more coffee," Reid stood up and walked over to the kitchen. Tyler followed him in.

"How do you think Emma's going to react?" he asked, sitting down at a bar stool by the counter. Reid looked over at him.

"I don't know. I think it won't matter that much to her," he said, just now realizing the ramifications of telling her this. She could decide she didn't want to deal with this right now, and break up with him. "I hope it won't matter to her."

"It'll be okay. Maybe this will all go away once you see her okay. Then you won't need to deal with this any more," Tyler wasn't used to having to reassure his friend. Reid was usually the kind of person who despised people trying to make it sound like everything was going to be okay. Tyler assumed that this feeling resulted from everyone lying to him and saying his father would be fine, when, he wasn't.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Caleb answered it, and Emma stepped in. Reid looked at Tyler, and walked down the hall way to where she was standing in the foyer. "Hey Emma," he said, pulling her into a hug.

"Is everything alright Reid?" she asked. "You look like crap." Caleb stepped in, before Reid could say anything.

"We have to explain something to you," he said, leading her into the living room to their left. Reid and Emma sat down on one of the couch, and Tyler sat next to them. Pogue and Caleb took the two wing back chairs facing the couch.

"What is it?" Emma asked, worriedly.

"In 1692, our four families formed a covenant of silence. Through our bloodlines, the first born male in the family was given unnatural powers, surfacing at age 13. We can do basically anything we want, but there's a catch; every time we 'use', which means using our powers, we age a little faster," Caleb tried to explain as easily as he could.

"At age 18, the powers become even stronger, and have even harsher results. They start to get harder and harder to stop using the older you get," Pogue started in. "Eventually, if you use too much, you get addicted to it, and you can't stop."

Emma just looked around at all their faces, and reached for Reid's hand. Finally, she looked up at his face. "Is something wrong?" she asked. Reid nodded his head.

"Whenever I fall asleep, I start to subconsciously use. Things start levitating, and fall off shelves," Reid explained, surprised how well she was taking this. "Every time this happens, I'm dreaming that you're in danger, and I can't help you. The powers are linked directly to our emotions," he said.

"So, basically, we're trying to figure this out, and trying to keep Reid awake," Tyler added to the conversation. "Are you okay?" he asked Emma, who hadn't stopped staring at Reid.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked suddenly. Caleb looked at her and nodded.

"You can keep him awake, while Pogue, Tyler, and I try to figure this out," he said, standing up. "Can you handle that?" he asked. Emma nodded, still trying to absorb all she'd just heard. Pogue and Tyler stood up and left the room.

Reid and Emma sat in silence for a while, before she stood up. "I smell coffee. Let's go have that coffee date you promised me." Reid got up, and led her to the kitchen. "They have no idea why this is happening?" Emma asked, pouring two cups of coffee into the two mugs sitting by the coffee pot.

"No, they thought it's because I use too much, and haven't used for a while. Like withdrawal symptoms," he said, gratefully taking the coffee cup. "But now, I think they think it's something else."

"Do you use too much?" she asked worriedly.

"Not since I met you. It's like you're a distraction or something, because the second I'm not with you, the urge to use is stronger than I've ever felt it," he said. Emma smiled and want to sit down in the breakfast nook by the window.

"I guess that means we're going to have to spend the rest of our lives together," she said with a sigh. She motioned for Reid to come sit next to her. He did.

"I'm sorry I couldn't fill you in earlier. It's just that Caleb would kill me if I told someone with out him being consulted first," Reid said, putting his arm around her. Just then, Mrs. Danvers came into the kitchen.

"Hi Reid, how are you holding up?" she asked.

"Fine. This is Emma. It's okay. She knows already," he said. "Emma, this is Caleb's mom."

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Danvers," she said smiling.

"I'm going to make you guys something to eat, what would like?" Mrs. Danvers asked. "I can make you anything you want." She opened up her refrigerator.

"You really don't have to," Emma said. Mrs. Danvers gave a look that said she wanted more than anything to make something for them, and that she wouldn't take no for an answer. "Could we have some omelets?" she asked politely.

"Yes you may," Mrs. Danvers got busy making the omelets. Emma and Reid looked at each other. Just then, they heard a crash coming from the foyer. Reid jumped up and ran out the door to see what was going on. Emma walked over to where Mrs. Danvers was standing.

Out in the foyer, Reid was shocked to see Chase Collins. It wasn't possible, since Caleb had killed him already. "Hey Garwin," he said. "Don't look so surprised! Did you think I'd let you guys off the hook so easily?"

"Caleb killed you," Reid said, taking a step forward. Chase laughed.

"I'm stronger than you know," he said. Just then, Caleb, Pogue, and Tyler rushed into the room. "Now the party can start," Chase said.

"Who are you talking to Reid?" Caleb asked. "Is everything alright?"

"Can't you see him?" Reid asked, pointing to where Chase was standing. Caleb looked, but it was clear he didn't see anything. "It's Chase! He's right there. He's gonna hurt Emma," Reid said, annoyed that no one could see.

"There's no one there Reid," Pogue said, worriedly, putting a hand on Reid's shoulder. Reid jerked away.

"What are you going to do, Reid?" Chase said.

"Did you hear that?" Reid asked, desperate for someone else to have heard Chase's voice. Everyone shook their heads. Caleb looked really worried.

"I think that not sleeping is catching up with you. He left the room, with more motivation to find a way to fix this. Pogue followed, him, and so did Tyler. Reid was left with an evil person only he could see, alone.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Sorry about the long wait. I sort of hit a wall with the plot, and had to figure out what to do. There's another chapter coming, to tie up all the loose ends, but it could go on for longer. enjoy!

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Inner Struggles

Chapter 8

"You're the only person who can see me, so, your friends won't be able to save you this time. You'll have to deal with this on your own," Chase said lazily. Reid formed a ball of energy in his hand, ready to throw it. "No, you don't want to do that Garwin."

"Why the heck not?" Reid asked, pulling his hand back, about to let it fly at Chase. "Why am I the only one who can see you?" he asked, daring Chase to say something stupid.

Chase smirked. "I have to get back at Caleb somehow," he said. "I thought, as opposed to going against him again, I'd go for his friends."

"Why did you choose me?" Reid asked. "Caleb isn't that interested in my well being. You would have been better off doing this to Tyler or Pogue." Chase laughed. "What?" Reid asked.

"It's just funny that you said that. I had that same thought, but then it occurred to me. You're the only one who would let this come this far. If it had been Sims or Perry, they would have gone straight to Caleb when they sensed any problem. You on the other hand are just unstable and stubborn enough, that this would amount to this.

Reid thought about this for a minute, before releasing the ball of energy from his hand. Chase dodged it, smirking again. "Nice try Garwin," he sneered. "Let's take this outside, before you're friends come in here and see you throwing energy balls at nothing." Chase disappeared, and appeared outside the window. Reid followed him.

"Just answer this, didn't Caleb kill you?" Reid asked, keeping his distance from Chase.

"He thought he did, but he didn't. After the fire men scoured the area for my body, they came back and said that they didn't find it. He didn't know that I'd escaped when he'd run into save his little girlfriend," Chase explained.

"That makes more since," Reid said, throwing another blast of energy at Chase. This time it actually hit him, but he retaliated. Reid was knocked to the ground with an even stronger blast. "

"We need to go somewhere different, more private, so no one can hear you scream when I kill you," Chase said thoughtfully, thinking. "I have an idea. The place where the old Putnam barn stood. It seems like a fitting place." Chase somehow managed to disappear, pulling Reid with him. They appeared seconds later at the chared ground where Chase and Caleb had dueled it out.

Reid threw yet another energy blast Chase's way, but Chase caught it, and threw it right back at him. Chase then threw a charred piece of metal at Reid. Reid ducked just in time, but before he had a chance to recover, another one was headed his way. This one nicked his shoulder. Reid retaliated by throwing Chase against a tree about ten feet away. Chase slid down the trunk of it.

"I underestimated you, Reid," Chase got up, and picked Reid by the throat, Reid's feet dangling about a foot off the ground. He threw him as hard as he could against another tree. Reid got to his feet, massaging his head.

"How exactly is this going to get back at Caleb, if he's not even here?" Reid asked, getting tired of this.

"Good point. Let's just go back to his quaint little home." Once again, Reid found him self being pulled along. They ended up in the guest bedroom where Caleb and the two other boys were discussing what to do about Reid.

"What happened to you?" Tyler asked Reid, who was standing in front of the invisible Chase. Caleb got up and offered Reid his chair. Reid refused to sit down.

"Chase is right behind me. I know you can't see him, but he's there. Where's Emma?" Reid saw the confused looks on his friends faces.

"She went home. There's no one behind you," Pogue said. Just then, Reid felt Chase's hands around his neck again. Then Chase lifted him up several inches off the ground. Reid was struggling for breath, and had gone limp by the time he let him go. Tyler ran over to Reid's limp body and turned him onto his back. Much to his relief, he saw his chest rise and fall.

Chase gave up the invisible thing, and appeared. "You're dead!" Caleb said. Pogue lifted Reid up onto the bed, and turned to Caleb and Chase.  
"That's what Garwin said. Don't you remember that they never found my body?" Chase asked, opening the door and stepping out into the hall. Caleb followed him, and then Tyler and Pogue. Pogue sent Tyler back in with Reid.

"So this whole thing with Reid was just to get back at me?" Caleb asked, stepping towards him. "Why not just come back to me?"

"Because, everyone knows the way to a man is through his friends. If your friends are in danger, you suffer more than if you were in danger," Chase said lazily. "Plus, it's a lot more fun to mess with someone who loses their temper."

"Why don't you just fight me, and leave my friends out of this?" Caleb asked, a energy ball forming in the palm of his hand. He threw it at Chase, not caring if they destroyed the whole house, as long as Chase didn't get out of this alive.

The ball hit Chase squarely in the chest, and he fought back by throwing another one at Caleb, who caught it. Caleb threw it back at him. Chase fell to the ground, but threw Caleb into the opposite wall. This went on for a couple minutes. Chase was weakening, and then Pogue stepped in. He'd just been watching this fight go on, not knowing when to interfere.

He shoved Chase hard into a closed door, the wood shattering on impact. Chase was laying on the floor, not moving. When Caleb went up to examine him, he was flung into the ceiling, landing hard on the floor by Chase. Pogue picked Chase by the neck, much as Chase had done to Reid, and only let go when he stopped moving.

"Caleb, he's out. What should we do?" Pogue asked, not knowing wether to finish the job or not. Caleb walked over and grabbed Chase's limp body by the shoulder, and dragged him out side. Caleb signaled for Pogue to go inside, and he did.

In the guest room, Pogue was relieved to see that Reid was conscious again. "Where's Chase?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

He's outside with Caleb. Caleb's going to kill him for real this time," Pogue answered, sitting down beside his blonde friend.

A few minutes later, Caleb walked into the room. "It's over," he said, sitting down in the chair. "He's dead for real this time." They sat in silence for a while, before Reid spoke up.

"I told you he was here," Caleb laughed, and got up. He went to check on his mother. "Does this mean I can sleep?" Reid asked, smiling. Pogue nodded, and Reid stood up.

"Let's go back to the school," Pogue stood up as well. "Hey Caleb," he said, leaning his head into the living room where Caleb was talking to his mother. "Reid, Tyler and I are going to head back." Caleb nodded.

Pogue, Reid and Tyler walked out side to where Tyler had parked. Tyler pulled out of the long drive way. "Are you alright, Reid?" Pogue asked. When he didn't get a reply, he turned around and saw Reid asleep in the back seat, leaning against the door.

Once they arrived at the school, Pogue woke up Reid. "Hey, we're back. Don't forget, we've got classes tomorrow." Pogue walked off to his dorm, and Reid and Tyler headed to theirs.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks to my wondorful reviewers! There is going to be more chapters because i really like how this story is unfolding. R&R.

Inner Struggles

Chapter 9

The next day, Tyler left the dorm quietly for his first class. He met up with Caleb and Pogue outside.

"Is Reid sleeping?" Pogue asked, when he saw only Tyler exit the building. Tyler nodded. "I knew he would be."

"He probably hasn't even woken up since last night," Caleb said, smiling.

"Yeah. He's been asleep since we got back last night. I tried to get him to go have the nurse check out all his cuts and scrapes, but he just crashed," Tyler said. They were just arriving at class.

After class, they saw Reid standing outside, waiting for them. "Hey guys, how was class?" he asked.

"Same as it usually is, boring. You missed a lot of note though," Pogue said.

"Tyler will let me borrow his, won't you Tyler?" he asked. Tyler nodded and smiled. 'The old Reid was back,' he thought. "Was Emma there today?" Reid asked. "I haven't talked to her since last night when she left.

"She was talking to the Prof. about a problem with her paper," Caleb said. Reid went into the class room.

"Garwin, we missed you in class today," the Prof. said. "Where were you?" he asked.

"I slept in accidently. I'm getting the notes from a friend though," he said. Emma looked over and smiled.

"That would be a good idea," the Prof said. "Maybe Tory will catch you up next class." Reid looked over at the only other student in the room except for him and Emma. Tory was gathering up her books.

"Great," she said, rolling her eyes. Reid noticed a hint of a smile on her face. He thought that she might have a little crush on him, by the way she'd been acting.

"I would appreciate that, Tory," Reid said, flashing his most charming smile. She turned red and walked out of the class room. Emma saw what Reid did and smiled.

"Thank you Professor," she said. She and Reid left the room together. "I think Tory has a crush on you," she said, smiling. Reid grinned. "Don't get any ideas. I know it's tempting, but you're my guy, not hers," she said grinning back.

"I'll try to stay true to you," Reid said. When they reached the rest of the guys standing outside, they started to head to their next class, which Reid realized that he'd skipped last time. "Hey Tyler," he said suspiciously.

"What?" Tyler asked reluctantly.

"So, I wasn't here for the last day in Algebra two, so, could I look over you're notes, and maybe copy your homework?" Reid asked, his voice getting low on this last part. Tyler sighed and handed him his folder. Reid went to sit down on a bench, and started fervently copying what Tyler had written on his paper.

"Don't we have a test today?" Caleb asked Pogue.

"Yeah," he said. "It's supposed to be a big one too." Reid looked up at them quickly.

"Are you lying?" Reid asked hopefully.

"No," Pogue answered, with out cracking a smile. "You'll do fine though. You've aced all the homework," he said.

"No, I have a confession. Tyler aced the homework," Reid said, starting to get worried. Pogue laughed at his friend's hopelessness.

They arrived at the class just in time for class to start. The hour passed, with no mention of a test. By the time there was fifteen minutes left in class, Reid glared up at Pogue, who smiled back. After class, Reid walked up to Pogue.

"That was funny," Reid said sarcastically. "I spent the entire hour studying for a nonexistent test! I never study!" Reid said. Pogue laughed and they headed out side.

After classes, they all headed to Nicky's. When they got there, they ordered their food and sat down at a table. "So, you're feeling better, Reid?" Emma asked him. Reid nodded, and motioned her to go play pool with him.

They left the table and walked over to the pool table. "They're cute, aren't they," Kate said to Sarah. "I didn't think Reid could stay with one girl for this long."

"Yeah. I agree, but they've only been together for a few days," Sarah answered.

"Exactly," Kate said. They both laughed. Pogue, Tyler, and Caleb brought back all the food, and set it down on the table. They all dug in. "Sarah and I were just discussing how cute Reid and Emma are."

"I think they're pretty adorable!" Pogue said, mocking them. Kate slapped him, and smiled. "No, I'm surprised they lasted this long," he said.

"That's exactly what I said!" Kate exclaimed.

"Well, I'm going to go see who's winning," Tyler got up and walked over to where Reid and Emma were playing pool. By the look on Reid's face, he was losing. "Hey, she's beating you Reid," he stated. Reid glared up at him. He aligned his shot, and completed it perfectly. Tyler reached over and turned Reid's face towards his.

"What are you doing?" Reid asked, jerking away.

"I'm just checking to see if you're playing fair," Tyler said. Reid gave an annoyed look and took his next shot, which he missed. Emma took her next and final shot, and won the game.

"Well, I suppose I won," she said thoughtfully. "And that must mean, that you lost!" she said, skipping back to where the food was sitting on the table. Reid and Tyler followed her back.

Emma leaned back against Reid, who was sitting next to her. Reid looked down at her, and smiled inwardly. He grabbed another fry, and ate it, thinking. He wasn't necessarily thinking about anything in particular, just thinking.

Just then, Amanda walked in. Tyler got up and went to greet her. When she got to the table, everyone offered her some food, and she sat down next to Tyler. She got up and pulled Tyler over to the foosball table, challenging him. They played that for a while, and everyone else talked.

"They're a pretty cute couple too," Kate said. Sarah nodded, and Pogue and Caleb rolled their eyes.

"Yeah, they're pretty much perfect for each other," Sarah added. Reid wasn't listening. He was staring intently at the table in front of him.

"Reid, are you there?" Pogue asked, snapping his fingers in front of his friend's face. Reid snapped out of it and looked up.

"Sorry, I was just thinking," he said.

"About her?" Kate asked, pointing to Emma who looked up. Reid nodded and Emma smiled.

"Hey, Kate. I've decided something," Pogue said. "I think that we're a pretty darn cute couple too." Kate laughed.

"Yes we are Pogue. And so are Caleb and Sarah are too. We're just a bunch of cute couples!" Kate said, smiling.

"Reid, I'm tired, will you drive me back to the school?" Emma asked, sitting up. Reid nodded and stood up. They walked out to his car, and Reid put his arm around her shoulders.

Reid drove back to the school, and walked Emma up to her room. They had a goodnight kiss, before she opened her door and stepped in. "See you tomorrow," she said, closing the door. Reid walked back his dorm, smiling.


End file.
